Bluegrass Fiddle
HOMESPUN

A Private Lesson with Richard Greene

Taught By Richard Greene.
Level 4
80-minute DVD or VHS, Includes music book

Take a lesson with someone who has been called "one of the most innovative and influential fiddle players of all time!" Richard Greene has played everything from bluegrass to rock to string quartets, and he knows all the techniques that will make you a better player.

Every minute of this lesson is filled with amazing information. You'll learn how to warm up, produce good tone, tune your hand to your instrument for proper intonation and play with "freedom and abandon." Richard shows a myriad of bluegrass bowing patterns and techniques: crossbowing, "separate" bowing, the bounced bow (spiccato), hemiola (accenting off beats), the "Georgia shuffle" and rhythm chopping. You get in-depth instruction on double and triple stops, fingered unisons, the use of "bluesy" 3rds, 5ths and 7ths, bluegrass slides, tricks for playing fast and much, much more.

In one of the most fascinating and exciting segments of this extraordinary lesson, you'll explore the concept of "musical noise," the funky rhythm effects that Richard made famous starting with his days backing up Bill Monroe. In addition, you'll learn how to work up a fiddle tune, improvise variations and play some of the great pieces in the bluegrass repertoire: "Stoney Lonesome," "Katie Hill," "Black Snake in my Room (blues)," "Roanoke," "Big Mon," "Little Rabbit," "Sally Goodin," "Northern White Clouds" and "Beaumont R

About Richard Greene
Bluegrass Unlimited has called Richard Greene "one of the giants of modern fiddling." The classically-trained Los Angeles native first attained prominence with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys in 1966 as one of Monroe's first "northern" band members. He went on to found the revolutionary folk-rock group Seatrain (pioneering the electric violin), and has since collaborated with some of the world's most talented musicians, including Clarence White (Muleskinner), Old And In The Way, The Blues Project, Emmylou Harris, Tony Rice, Loggins & Messina, Peter Rowan, Rod Stewart, Jerry Garcia, Bruce Springsteen and many others.
Richard is one of the undisputed inventors of "NewGrass" or "New Acoustic" instrumental music. He currently leads seminars on all aspects of fiddling and violin playing nationwide, teaching courses at the Mancini Institute, the RockyGrass Academy, the Festival of Fiddle Tunes, the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp and dozens of workshops throughout the year. In 1997 Richard received a Grammy and two IBMA year-end awards for his work on "True Life Blues," a Bill Monroe tribute for Sugar Hill Records. He has made three CDs to date with his bluegrass band The Grass Is Greener, a star attraction at bluegrass festivals all over the world.